Instant fines for incorrect benefit claims

The penalties are being introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in an attempt to slash the £1.3bn overspend on benefits lost through customer error. However, the DWP also underpaid £1.3bn of total benefit expenditure due to fraud and error, according to latest figures. Claimants will face penalties if they negligently provide incorrect information on their benefit claim, or don't tell the Department quickly about a change in their circumstances. It added that these will be civil penalties, not criminal convictions. The provisional 2010/11 figures revealed that t...